The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1887-02-02

circular sweep Of granite, that, lifting itself
5000 feet higher, became foundation for
the eternal SHOWS. The mountain genii of
seclusion and surrounded It with illusions; it
never locked to be exactly what it was; the
traveller who saw 1t from the North ridge
apparently at his feet in descending found
himself separated from it by a mile long
abyss and rushing river; those who sought
it by seeming direct trail at the end of
an hour lost sight Of it completely, or,
abandoning the quest and retracing their
steps, suddenly came upon the gap through
which it was entered. That which from the
ridge appeared to be copse Of bushes be-
side the tiny dwelling wero trees 800 feet
high; the cultivated lawn before it, which
might have been covered by the travellers
handkerchief, was a field of 1000 acres.
The house itself was long, low, irregular
structure, chiefly of roof and veranda, pict-
uresquely upheld by rustic pillars Of pine,
with the bark still adhering, and covered
with vines and trailing roses. Yet it was
evident that the coolness produced by this
vast extent Of cover was more than the ar
chitect, who had planned 1t under the influ-
ence Of a staring and bewildering sky, had
trustfully conceived, for it had to be n,iti-
gated by blazing fires in open hearths when
the Thermometer marked 100 degrees in the
field beyond. The dry, restless wind that
continually rocked the tall masts Of the
pines with a sound like the distant sea, while
it stimulated outdoor physical exertion and
defed fatigue, left the sedentary dwellers in
these attitudes chilled in the shade they
courted, or scorched them with heat when
they ventured to bask supinely in the sun.
White muslin curtains at the French win
dows, and rugs, skins and heavy furs dis
persed in the interior, with certain other
charming but incongruous details of furni-
ture, marked the Inconsistencies Of the cli-
mate.
There was coquettish indication Of this
in the costume of Miss Kate Scott as she
stepped out on the veranda that morning.
A mans broad -brimmed Panama hat, partly
unsexed by a twisted, gayly colored scarf,
but retaining enough character to give
piquancy to the pretty curves Of the face
beneath, protected her from the sun; a red
flannel shirt-another spoil from the enemy
and a thick jacket shielded her from the
austerities of the morning breeze. But the
next inconsistency was peculiarly her own.
Miss Kate always wore the freshest and
hghtest Of white cambria skirts, without the
least reference to the temperature. To the
practical sanatory remonstrances Of her
hrother-in-law, and to the conventional
criticism of her sister, she opposed the same
defense: allow else is one to tell when 1t is
summer in this ridiculous climatei And
then, woolen is stuffy, color draws the sun,
and one at least knows when one is clean or
dirty" Artistically the result was far from
unsatisfactory. 1t was apretty figure under
the somber pines, against the gray granite
and the steely sky, and seemed TO lend the
yellowing fields from which the flowers had
already fled floral relief of color. l do not
think the few masculine wayfarers Of that
locality objected to it; indeed, some bad
betrayed an indiscreet admiration, and had
curiously followed the invitation Of Miss
Kate's warmly colored figure until they had
encountered the invincible indifference of
Miss Kate's cold gray eyes. With these
manifestations her brother-in-law did not
concern himself; he had perfect confidence
In her unqualified dislnterest in the neigh
boring humanity, and permitted her to
wander in her solitary picturesqueness, or
accompanied her when she rode In her dark
green habit, with equal freedom from
anxiety.
For Miss Scott, although only 90 had
already subjected most Of her naidenly illu-
sions to mature critical analyses. She had
voluntarily accompanied her sister and
mother to California, in the earnest hope
that nature contained something worth say
ing to her, and was disappointed to find she
had already discounted its value in the pages
Of books She hoped to find vague free
dom in this unconventional life thus opened
to her, or rather to show others that she
knew how intelligently to appreciate 1t, but
as yet she was only able TO express 1t In the
of the men, and nearly all of tho women, she
had met thus far, she was amazed to find,
valued the conventionalities she believed she
despsed, and were voluntarily assuming the
chains she thought she had thrown of. In
stead of learning anything from them, these
children Of nature had bored her with eager
questionings regarding the civilization she
had abandoned, or irritated her with crude
limitations of it for her benefit. "Fancy,n
she had written to friend in Boston, "my
calling on Sue Murphy, who remembered the
Bonner tragedy, and who once shot a grizzly
that was prowling round her cabin, and
think of her begging me to lend her my sack
for pattern, and wanting to know II polo
nays were still worn.n She remembered
more bitterly the romance that had tickled
her earlier fancy, told of two college friends
OF her brother-in-law's who were living the
'perfect life" in the mines, laboring in the
bitches with copy of Homer in their pockets,
and writing letters of the purest philosophy
under the free air of the pines. How. COM
ing unexpectedly on them in their Arcadia,
the party found them unpresentable through
dirt, and thenceforth unknowable through
domestic complications that had filled their
Arcadian cabin with half fbred children.
Much of this dsilusion she had kept
within her own heart, from feeling of
pride, or only lightly touched upon it in her
relations with her mother and sister. For
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Scott had no idols to
shatter, no enthusiasm to subdue Firmly
and unalterably conscious of their own
superiority to the life they led and the COM
munity that surrounded them, they accepted
their duties cheerfuliy, and performed them
conscientiously. Those duties were loyalty
to Hales interests and a vague missionary